Jasmin Godoy, an administrative assistant at The Seattle Times, hawks newspapers near the Pike Place Market on Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, in Seattle. The Seahawks romped to a 43-8 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.Elaine Thompson
/ AP

Yue Yang, 5, visiting with her parents from China, reaches out toward a pig statue decorated as a football pigskin at the Pike Place Market on Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, in Seattle. The bronze cast piggy bank, known as ‘Rachel,’ is decorated with the number ‘12,’ in support of Seattle Seahawks fans, known as the ‘12th Man.’ The Seahawks romped to a 43-8 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.Elaine Thompson
/ AP

Julie Keim, of Mukilteo, Wash., looks toward a clerk to check on sizing as she purchases a stack of Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl championship shirts and caps at the team store on Monday, Feb. 3, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks romped to a 43-8 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.Elaine Thompson
/ AP

Seattle Seahawks fans share a kiss after watching their team win Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014. The Seahawks pounded the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Seattle Seahawks fans celebrate after watching their team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Beer cans and a Skittles candy wrapper are seen on a Seattle street during a celebration after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in East Rutherford, N.J. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Young men stand on a car while listening to music in the middle of a Seattle street as Seattle Seahawks fans celebrate after watching their team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Seattle Seahawks fans celebrate after watching their team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Seattle Seahawks fans celebrate after watching their team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

A Seattle Seahawks fan celebrates while watching the Super Bowl at Fuel, a bar, on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

A police officer enjoys himself while filming Seattle Seahawks fans celebrating in the streets of Seattle after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in East Rutherford, N.J. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Seattle Seahawks fans celebrate after watching their team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Seattle Seahawks fans celebrate after watching their team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

A Seattle Seahawks fan celebrates after watching his team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Seattle Seahawks fans embrace in the street after watching their team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

A Seattle Seahawks fan celebrates by doing a handstand atop a sculpture after watching his team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Seattle Seahawks fans celebrate with a replica Vince Lombardi Trophy after watching their team win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle. The Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in the NFL’s championship game, played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Seattle Seahawks fans jump out of their car and dance in the middle of the street after the Seattle Seahawks’ 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Sofia Locklear and Patrick Berg share a moment together as fans take to the streets in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle as they celebrate the Seattle Seahawks’ 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014.MARCUS YAM
/ AP

Celebratory fireworks are set off behind The Space Needle in Seattle, after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl for the first time in history on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014. The Seahawks, in their second Super Bowl appearance ever, won 43-8 over the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.Lindsey Wasson
/ AP

Seattle Seahawks fan Sara Hatfielf surfs through the crowd in the middle of 1st Avenue on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014 in Seattle after the Seahawks’ 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

Students celebrate by setting a couch and other debris on fire at the University of Washington’s Greek Row in Seattle after the Seattle Seahawks’ 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014.Lindsey Wasson
/ AP

Seattle Seahawks fans celebrate in the middle of 1st Avenue in Seattle, Wash. Hundreds of people flooded the streets of downtown Seattle after the Seahawks’ 43-8 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014.David Ryder
/ Getty Images

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SEATTLE — For a city accustomed to losing not just games, but teams, the Seattle Seahawks' dominant Super Bowl win provided a long overdue catharsis, buoying the spirits of a fan base that hasn't always had much to cheer about.

Fans poured into the Seahawks team store on Monday at CenturyLink Field to buy championship T-shirts and hats, parents made plans to pull their kids out of school for Wednesday's parade, and staff at The Seattle Times donned aprons to help hawk some of the extra 106,000 copies printed with "Champs!" emblazoned on the front page.

"I spent a little bit of money this morning, but it's priceless," said Julie Keim, who bought 11 shirts at $28 apiece and 11 hats at $35 apiece for the staff at her maritime-training school in the north Seattle suburb of Edmonds. "There's so many players to be proud of on this team."

The Seahawks' 43-8 manhandling of the Denver Broncos on Sunday gave the city its first major men's sports championship since the SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979 — and helped erase some of the lingering bitterness over the Sonics' 2008 departure for Oklahoma City, where the team became the Thunder.

In fact, before Sunday, Seattle's two major professional championships were in sports in which the city no longer competes — hockey and basketball. The Seattle Metropolitans won the 1917 Stanley Cup before folding in 1924.

Unlike fans of some other championship-starved teams — say, the Chicago Cubs or the pre-2004 Boston Red Sox — Seahawks faithful haven't had the Bulls, Celtics, Blackhawks or Bruins to cheer for.

Fans launched fireworks, blared horns and partied across the city as the final seconds of the Super Bowl ticked away. The celebration lasted into the night.

"I can't make you understand what this means to me!" shouted lifelong Seattleite John Caro, who, with his wife Corina, both 59, whooped their way down Lake City Way in North Seattle and high-fived passersby. "We have waited so freakin' long for this!"

Thousands of people packed the city's oldest neighbourhood, Pioneer Square, and the Fire Department reported about a half-dozen bonfires around the city, mostly involving couches and mattresses burned in streets.

The biggest blaze was near the University of Washington, where one person was arrested for investigation of reckless burning. Two shootings also were reported but the injuries weren't life-threatening.

The celebration, however, was mostly harmless, even though there were about a half-dozen arrests Sunday night, and police dispersed the Pioneer Square crowd after some revelers began smashing windows and throwing bottles at officers.

Videos of fans waiting politely for a light to change before crossing a street spread quickly on the Internet, demonstrating that one doesn't jaywalk in Seattle, even amid a Super Bowl celebration.

Seattle's sports history has been mostly sad. Aside from the SuperSonics' relocation after 41 years, baseball's Mariners — who started playing in 1977, seven years after the Pilots moved to Milwaukee — have been woeful, losing 101 games in 2008 and 2010, and 91 last year.

But there have been bright spots.

The Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl in 2005, where they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers amid complaints about the officiating that Seattle fans continue to voice.

In 1994, the SuperSonics had the best record in the NBA during the regular season then became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 8 seed in the opening round of the playoffs. Two years later, the Sonics couldn't overcome the 72-win Bulls in the NBA finals.

The Mariners made the playoffs with a feel-good, late-season run in 1995, before losing to the Cleveland Indians. And in 2001, the home team tied a major league record with 116 regular-season wins but had no answer for the Yankees in the post-season.

There were the championships of the WNBA's Seattle Storm in 2004 and 2010. Suggestions that the Seahawks' win was the city's first championship overall since 1979 struck a nerve among some in the city, including Storm President Karen Bryant, who wondered about the reports on Twitter even as the Storm congratulated the Seahawks on the win.

But even Keim, a Storm fan who welcomed their championships, said the Seahawks win resonated more. She reserved a 56-passenger bus to take all of the staff and students at her maritime school, Compass Courses, and some friends, to the upcoming parade, which is slated to cover a route of about 2 miles through downtown before ending a CenturyLink Field.

"I hope it's just crazy," she said. "Just being in a crowd where people have so much love for the team is going to be exciting."

———

Follow Johnson at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

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